"We started out with plans for a 200,000-sq-ft building, budgeted at $200 million. We ended up with a 220,000-sq-ft building, brought in at $152 million, plus $10 million for the video wall, so we saved almost $50 million on the cost of the construction, including design and construction costs," Arendt says. "That brings it down into an area of high $700s [per square foot]. Look around at other recently built art museums, and not many of those were under $1,000 a square foot."

Arendt adds, "I know first-hand that the former president is tickled pink and loves going there, as well as Mrs. Bush. The NARA folks are very proud and very pleased with the product we delivered."

Key Players

Owner George W. Bush Presidential Foundation, Dallas

General Contractor Manhattan Construction Co., Dallas

Lead Design Robert A.M. Stern Architects, New York

Structural Walter P. Moore, Dallas

Civil URS Corp., Dallas

MEP CHP & Associates Inc., Houston

Landscape Architect Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Cambridge, Mass.

Interior Design Gensler, Dallas